Defensive specialist

People arrive in droves at Viking Gymnasium to see the high-flying act known as the Kinston boys basketball team.

While the eyes of patrons are fixated on an offense that produces highlight-reel dunks, deep 3s and 68.1 points per game, the team actually prides itself on defense and thinks it’s more important than watching numbers rise on the scoreboard.

People arrive in droves at Viking Gymnasium to see the high-flying act known as the Kinston boys basketball team.

While the eyes of patrons are fixated on an offense that produces highlight-reel dunks, deep 3s and 68.1 points per game, the team actually prides itself on defense and thinks it’s more important than watching numbers rise on the scoreboard.

The Vikings’ offense is can put on a show, but their defense writes the script. And senior VeQuain Joyner is leading the cast.

Joyner, Kinston’s all-conference quarterback in football, doesn’t fill up the stat sheet with eye-popping offensive numbers like he did in the fall. But what he does is lead a defensive attack that is holding opponents to 45.1 points per game through 14 games.

“He has the ability to score eight, 10 points per game, but he’s just so focused mentally on the defensive end,” Vikings coach Perry Tyndall said.

“He’s a lock-down defender, and he helps get our offense going.”

While it may not be obvious to the casual basketball fan, Kinston (12-2, 5-0 Eastern Plains 2A), which hosts Greene Central on Friday, actually works more on the defensive aspect of the game than its offense.

The way the Vikings operate is they force teams into turnovers, then turn those turnovers into points on the offensive end in transition — the Josh Dawson-to-Denzel-Keyes alley-oops that ignite the crowd.

For Joyner, who played junior varsity basketball last season, it’s not about how many points can be scored but how many it takes away from the opposition.

“When we played against teams like (Waxhaw) Cuthbertson and DeSoto (Texas), I was guarding their best player. So I feel like (Tyndall) is challenging me to hold their best player, so I’m stepping in defensively to help out,” Joyner said.

“Coach Tyndall always says in practice and during games that we need to go harder on defense because we’ve got scorers on this team. We play good defense, and the defense turns into the offense.

“We pride ourselves in the defense that we play.”

In sort of a reversal of roles, Joyner was the offensive leader for Kinston’s football team. He threw for 2,226 yards and 26 touchdowns — 12 to Keyes and two to Dawson — last season. Now, it’s Dawson and Keyes, along with sophomore Brandon Ingram, who gets the attention on offense.

According to Dawson, the dunks and 3-pointers wouldn’t be possible without Joyner’s defense.

“There’s a lot of scorers on our team, and a lot of people in high school don’t really play defense. But he puts everything that he has into defense,” Dawson said.

“If you ask him, he’s going to tell you that he doesn’t even have to score the ball because he just wants to play ‘D.’”

Page 2 of 2 - It’s obvious that Joyner is gifted athletically, but it’s his intellect that has led to more steals and touchdowns than a strong arm or a good defensive stance.

Joyner is currently ranked third in his class, he said, and plans on pursuing a career in the medical field after high school.

As of now Joyner isn’t sure whether his ticket to college will be athletics (he has offers in football from Campbell, Guilford College and Wingate, he said) or academics.

Regardless, both have been an asset for Kinston both on the gridiron and the hardwood.

“It’s mostly instinct, but the thinking part comes with the technique — just playing good, sound defense,” Joyner said.

“We each have roles on the team, and my role is to play defense. If I get five steals in one game then that means I played my role, and I helped us win that night.”

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.